Method and apparatus for loading articles



Nov. 30, 1943.

H. B. KOONCE METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR LOADING ARTICLES Filed Feb. 16,1939 v 1 aa 153 2 she ts-s eet 1 H ngB/faang;

Patented Nov. 30, 1943 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR LOADING ARTICLES HenryB. Koonce, High Point, N. 0., assignor to Atlantic States Motor Lines,Inc.

Application February 16, 1939, Serial No. 256,809

29 Claims. (01. 214-152) This invention relates to a method of anapparatus for stacking, loading and transporting heavy cylindricalarticles and more particularly to spool shaped articles such as spoolsor beams for cordage which may be thread and the like.

The'present invention relates more specifically to the stacking,loading, transportation and hauling of large and heavy spools or beamsof commercial thread materials so that the same'may be handled in anexpeditious manner and minimize any danger of damage duringtransportation. When spools of rayon thread, for example, aretransported by trucks over long distances, considerable care isnecessary in properly bracing the cargo and considerable difiiculty hasfrequently been experienced with methods heretofore employed, by theload shifting in the container or truck body with a resulting costlydamage to the thread on the spools as well as to the truck body. This isespecially true when these heavy spools are placed in tiers orsuperimposed rows, and serious accidents have'resulted due to suddenstops of the truck for unavoidable reasons. It will be remembered thatthese individual spools or beams of thread as they are sometimes called,frequently weigh a thousand pounds or more, and therefore it isnecessary that they be loaded and anchored an apparatus of the characterdesignated in which the individual spools shall be anchored relative toeach other in separate row units and anchoring the units relative to thefloor of the container as well as provide for accidental shifting of theunits relative to each other under extreme conditions of transportationor hauling.

A further object of the invention is to romde an apparatus of thecharacter designated which shall be inexpensive and'simple'inconstruction and positive in operation to prevent any shifting of thearticles relative to each other as well as relative to the floor andwalls of the container in which they are stacked.

These and other objects of the invention will be more apparent from theaccompanying specification and drawings and more particularly set forthin the claims.

In the dra'wings 1 Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view showing ofapparatus constructed and arranged in accordance with the presentinvention,

in the container or vehicle body in which they are being transported ina positive and'reliable manner.

The present methods and apparatus heretofore 4 employed in loading andstacking these spools of 'thread have been defective in properlypreventing the accidental shifting of the rows of spools on the vehiclefloor or the individual spools .ofa row.

One important object of the present invention is to provide a novelmethod of and apparatus for arranging cylindrical articles on the'floorof a freight container such as a freight car or motor truck body so asto reduce to a minimum any danger of the load shifting duringtransportation.

Another object of the invention is to provide a novel form of apparatusfor supporting and anchoring individual spools of thread together aswell as anchoring the spools'to the floor or sides of the container ortruck body.

Another'object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of thecharacter designated which shall reduce to a minimum special apparatusfor stacking freight material of this kind andwhich may also be readilydismantled and stored in a minimum space to provide for loading othertypes of freight.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan view of a platform for supporting asuperimposed row of spoolshaped articles,

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on line 4-4 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view of guide members shown in Fig. 1;and

. Fig. 61s a fragmentary sectional view on line 6-6 of Fig. 5.

Referring to Figs. 1 and-2 of the drawings, there is shown a preferredembodiment of the in vention in which a plurality of cylindricalarticles such as heavy spools of thread indicated by thenumeral III areloaded and stacked on the floor ll of a conventional form of truck bodyindicated generally by dotted lines l2. The truck floor is supported ona conventional type of angle iron frame members indicated by the numerall3.

The individual spools .of thread loaded and stacked in accordance withthe present invention are of' the conventional type having end flangehead members l4 and I 5 and anintegral .axle

. l6 which projects beyond the head members as Another object of theinvention is to provide indicated. These heavy spools are sometimescalled beams of thread in the textile art. The spools are loaded byplacing a desired number of spools on the floor in aligned position andsecuring them in spaced relation by a pair of' separate side platemembers l1- -|8 which extend adjacent to the heads of the spools in arow. These side plate members II-l8 are provided with a plurality ofspaced apertures I! which are a little larger than the axle members Itof the individual spools. The spacing of these apertures is.substantially the width of the conventional spool heads |4|5 so that theaxles of the along the row by angle iron plate members l3.

and 20 and upper and lower tie rods indicated by the numerals 2| and 22as shown in F18. 4. These individual tie rods are threaded at theirmembers are of the type heretofore described and are positioned'at thefront' and rear of the row and extend in opposite directions to provide,the desired and necessary anchoring function.

To further provide against any movement of the individual spools or thespool unit relative to the lower unit or the container floor, theplatform is separately anchored to the floor of the vehicle by a pair ofanchor rods 33-39 as indicated. To further aid in retaining the platformso that it shall be held against displacement in any direction, upperand lower guide plates 40 and 4| are adjustably mounted on theplatformends as indicated by the numerals 23 and 24 so as to receive nut members23 and 26 respectively. It will thus be noted that by clamping the sideplates I1- and I8 by the adjustable tie rods 2 |22,

ou the truck body floor and secured by the side members |'|-|8 as abovedescribed, this unit is further anchored to the floor II by suitablyplaced anchored rods 21 and 28.- One end of the anchor rod 21, forexample, is attached'to the 'side spool spacer members H by a platemember in the drawings the brace 23 is toward the rear of a unit and thebrace 21 is at the forwardend of the unit, each brace being inclined inthe opposite direction to give the desired bracing and anchoring effect.Each of these anchor members is provided with a conventional form ofturn buckle 3| which is adjustable to vary the tension and firmly anchorthe unit. After the unit is thus anchored against longitudinal movement,it is further braced against lateral movement by means of a plurality ofspacer blocks which engage the side walls of the truck and the head of aspool.

- From the foregoing it will be noted that the individual spools of thefirst row are anchored in spaced relation relative to each other to forma rigid unit and the unit is then anchored to 'the floor of thecontainer thereby affording a maximum bracing effect for the individualspools and the row as a unit. This novel form of bracing eliminates theuse of tracks and other forms of chockingwhich have been used heretoforefor bracing loads of this kind.

A second or superimposed row of spools may now be stacked on the lowerrow if desired. This is accomplished by providing a platform 33 asindicated in Fig. 3. This platform rests directly on the spool flangesof. the lower row and is of ample width to receive the flanges of thespools of the row to be formed thereon as indicated. The spools of thissuperimposed row are now placed on the platform and anchored in spacedrelation by the same type of spacing and clamping members as heretoforedescribed with reference to the first row. In this'case a pair of sidemembers 34 and 35 with the same type of spaced apertures for securing.the spool axles and the same type of tie-rod clamp members are employedas heretofore described. This second row unit of spools is now anchoredto the floor by means of anchor members 36-31. These anchor .the spoolsare held in rigid spaced relation as a as indicated in-Fig. 3.v The topengages the end flange of the upper spool and the lower plate 4| engagesthe flange of the lower spool as shown in Figs. 5 and 6. It will thus benoted that these plates provide against any lateral shiftingof theplatform relative to the lower row of spools and also prevents shiftingof the spool row unit on top of the platform.

The plates 40 and 4| are each adjustably mounted on the platform 33 by abolt 42 and a slot 43 provided in the side bearing portion of eachplate. These angle plates 40 and 4| are adjustably mounted on upper andlower cross plate members 44 and 45 forming an integral part of theplatform. These cross plates 44 and v 45 also serve as reenforcingmembers for the '23, and the other end of the rod is attached to thefloor frame by an eye bolt 30. As indicated platform. i

To facilitate handling the platform it is preferably made in sectionsindicated by the numerals 46 and .41 and these sectionsmay be coupledtogether in any suitable manner as by the hook 49 on eye 50. r

In view of the foregoing it ing the opposite ends of the articles abovethe floor support, said frame members including means for securing theindividual articles to each other in spaced relation on the floor, andmeans for anchoring the frame to the door.

2. Apparatus of the character designated in claim 1 including means forclamping the side frame members against the head of each article to forma rigid row unit, and means for tensioning the anchor means.

3. Apparatus of the character designated in claim 1 including means forcross connecting the side members to clamp the members to the articlesso as to secure the articles in rigid spaced relation to form a rowunit, a pair of members connecting one ofthe clamping members and thefloor for anchoring the article row unit to the floor to prevent endwisemovement thereof, and

other means-on the floor for engaging certain claim 1 in which the framemembers shall extend the length of the row and be carried by therespectiveopposite heads of each article. means will be particularly.noted that in the present novel. construction, the

for clamping the side members together to rigidly embrace the articleheads, and brace members extending in opposite directions between thearticle frame clamping means and the floor to brace the row againstendwise movement on the floor,

5. Apparatus for stacking'and loading spoolshaped articles on a basesupportfor transportation comprising in combination, a plurality ofspools placed in a row, means for clamping the '10 individual spools ofa row to each other as a unit, a platform resting on the row of spools,and means for anchoring the platform to the spools and the base supportto prevent movement in any direction. a

6. Apparatus for stacking and loading spoolshaped articles on a basesupport for transportation comprising in combination, "a pluralityofspools placed in a row, means for clamping the individual spools of arow to each other as a unit, a platform resting on the row of spools,means for anchoring the platform to the base support to prevent movementin a longitudinal direction, and guide means on the platform forengaging certain of said spool ends for anchoring the plat form in alateral direction relative to the supporting row of spools and the basesupport.

7. Apparatus of the character designated in claim 5 in which theplatform rests on the row of spools for receiving a top row of spoolsplacedv on said platform, means for guiding the platform relative to thelower row of spools, and means for clamping the spools in the top row tothe platform. 1

8. Apparatus of the character designated in claim 5 including guidemeans on the under side of the platform for positioning said platformrelative to the top edges of the spools in the lower row, and guidemeans on the upper side of the platform for aligning the spool flangesof a-top row of spools on the platform.

9. Apparatus of the character designated in claim 5 including guidemeans on the under side of the platform for positioning said platformrelative to thetop edges of the spools in the lower row guide means onthe upper side of the platform for aligning the spool flanges of a toprow of spools on the platform, and a unitary connection betweenthe-upper and lower guide means for aligning the flanges of the spoolsin the upper and lower rows "for preventing relative lateraldisplacement thereof relative to the base support.

10. Apparatus of the character designated in claim 5 including guidemeans on the under side of the platform for positioning said platformrelative to the top edges of the spools in the lower row, guide means onthe upper side of the plat- I form for aligning the spool flanges of arow of spools on the platform, means for-clamping the top row of spoolstogether as a unit, and means for anchoring the unit to the basesupport.

11. Apparatus for loading spool-shaped articles in a container forshipment comprising, a floor for receiving a plurality of spools in arow, a

frame including a side member extending the length of each side of a rowof spools and supported by the spools, said frame having means forpositively engaging each spool axle to retain all the spools in fixedspaced relation, and means gor anchoring the spool retaining means tothe oor.

12. Apparatus for loading spool-shaped articlesin a container forshipment comprising, a floor for receiving a plurality of spoolsin arow, a rigid member extending the length of each 'side of a row ofspools and having means for engaging the axle of each spool head wherebyall the spools are retained in fixed spaced relation, and means forclamping the member rigidly to the spool heads to prevent" relativerotational movement thereof. 13. Apparatus for loading spool-shapedarticles in a container'for shipment comprising, a floor for receiving aplurality of spools in a row, a member extending the length of each sideof a row of spools and having spaced apertures for receiving the'axlesof each spool, and means for clamping the member rigidly to the spoolheads to provide a rigid unit, and means for anchoring the spool headclamping members to the floor.

14. Apparatus for loading and stacking heavy spool-shaped articles on afloor comprising in combination with upper and lower rows of spools, aplatform resting on the lower row and supporting the upper row ofspools, means for anchoringthe platform directly to the floor and meansfor anchoring the spools of the upper row directly to the floor.

15. Apparatus for loading andstacking heavy spool-shaped articles on afloor comprising in combination with upper and lower rows of spools,

a platform resting on the lower row and supporting'the upper row ofspools, means for anchor ing the top row of spools and the platform to--gether as a unit, and means for anchoring the unit to the floor.

16. Apparatus for loading and stacking heavy spool-shaped articles on afloor comprising in combination with upper and lower rows of spools, aplatform resting on the lower row and supporting the upper row ofspools-means for clamping the individual spools of each row in rigid'spaced relation as a unit, and means including a tensioning device foranchoring each unit to the floor.

17. Apparatus for loading and stacking heavy spool-shaped articles on afloor comprising in com'bination'with upper and lower rows of spools, aplatform resting on the lower row and'supporting the upper row ofspools, and means for anchoring the spools of the upper row on the 1platform and directly to the floor.

18. Apparatus for stacking and loading heavy spool-shaped'articlescomprising in combination, a floor for receiving a row of'spools, eachspool having end head flanges and protruding axle members, a frame forclamping all the-spools together as a unit including a pair ofindividual side members arranged to engage the individual axle membersat the end of each spool, and means for rigidly clamping the sidemembers against the spool end flanges.

19. Apparatus for stacking and loading heavy spool-shaped articlescomprising in combination, a floor for receiving a row of spools, eachspool having end head flanges and protruding axle members, a frame forclamping all the spools together as a unit including a pair ofindividual side members arranged to engage the individual axle membersat the end of each spool, means for rigidly clamping the side membersagainst the spool end flanges and means located near the end of eachside member for anchoring the side memthe upper edges of the articles inthe lower row,

placing a row of articles on said platform, se-

flanges in alignment with the spool flanges of the lower row, thenanchoring the individual articles in said second row to form a unit, andthen anchoring the unit to the base support.

22. The method of stacking and loading spoolshaped articles whichconsists in placing a plurality of such articles in an aligned row on abase support, securing the individual articles of the row to each otherto form a rigid unit, placing a platform on the upper edges of thearticles in the lower row, placing a plurality of articles in an'alignedrow on said platform to form a unit, securing the upper row of articlestogether as a unit, and then anchoring both the platform and the rowunit of articles comprising the unit on the platform, to the basesupport.

23. The method of stacking and loading spoo shaped articles whichconsists in placing a plurality of such articles in an aligned row on abase support, securing the individual articles to each other to form arigid unit, bracing the unit against endwise and lateral movementrelative transportation on a car or truck body heavy flanged spools ofthread such as rayon tire cord and the like, which consists in disposinga row of spools on the floor of a car or truck body with the flanges oi.the spools resting on the floor, disposing another row of. spools insuperimposed relation with respect to the lower row of spools butseparated from said lower row to positively maintain the upper and lowerrows of spools out of contact with one another, rigidly connecting theprojecting spindles ,0! the spools of each row to one another to therebyhold the spools of each row together as a unit, bracing the spoolsagainst lateral shifting movement, and anchoring the rows of spools soconnected and braced to the car or truck body.

27. In apparatus for stacking and securing for transportation on a caror truck body heavy flanged spools of thread such as rayon tire cord andthe like and which spools are disposed in superimposed rows and haveaxial spindles projecting from opposite ends thereof, rigid meansextending longitudinally of the rows of spools in engagement w th saidspindles to oonnectand lock the spools or each row together as a unit,and means anchoring the rows of spools so connected to the floor of thetruck or. car body with the weight of the spools imposed on said floor.

to the support, placing a platform on the upper edges of the articles inthe lower row, placing a plurality of articles in an aligned row on saidplatform and securing the same as a unit, securing the platform relativeto the upper and lower rows, and then anchoring the row unit of articlesin said second row unit to thelbase support.

24. The method of stacking and loading spoolshaped articles whichconsists in placing'a pluralityoi such articles in an aligned row on abase support, clamping the individual articles oi the row to each otherto form a rigid unit, super imposing a second row or articles clamped toeach other to form a rigid unit on the first row so that the axesofthearticles in each row shall be in 28. Apparatus for stacking andsecuring for transportation on a car or truck body heavy flanged spoolsof strand material such as rayon tire cord and the l ke and which spoolsare disposed in suberimpOsed rows and have axial spindles projectingfrom opposite ends thereof. comprising rigid members extendinglongitudinally of the rows of spools in en agement with said spindles toconnect and lock the spools of each row together as a unit, meansmaintaining the rows oi! spools out of contact with one another, andmeans connecting said rigid members to the floor of the truck or carbody withthe flanges of the i lower row of spools resting on said floorand takin: part or the weight or the upper row.

29.- Apparatus for stacking. and securing for transportation on a car ortruck body heavy flanged spools of strand'material such as rayontirecord and the like and which spools are er- I ranged in superimposed rowsand have axial spintransportation on a car or truck body heavy flangedspools 0! thread such as rayon tire cord and the like and which spoolshave axial spindles P oj cting from opposite ends thereof, consisting infirst disposing spools in superimposed substantially horizontallyaligned rows, then rigidly connecting the projecting spindles of thespools of each row to one another to thereby hold spools or each rowtogether as a unit, bracing the spools against lateralshiiting movementand anchoring the rows of spools so connected and braced to the car ortruck body.

26. The method of stacking and securing for dles project ng fromopposite ends thereof, comprising rigid members extending longitudinallyof said rows of spools and having means engaging over said spindles tolock the spools together in rows, a partition overlying and resting onthe flanges of the lower row ofspools and having the flanges oi theupper row resting thereon to positively maintain the spools of one rowout oi contact with the spools of the other row, and meansconnectinssaid rigid members to the floor of the truck or car body withthe flanges or the lower row 01' spools resting on the floor-and taking,part of the weight of the upper row.

HENRY B. KOONCE.

